Christopher C. Davoli

When meaning matters, look but don’t touch: The effects of posture on reading

Much of the reading that we do occurs near our hands. Previous research has revealed that spatial processing is enhanced near the hands, potentially benefiting several processes involved in reading; however, it is unknown whether semantic processing—another critical aspect of reading—is affected near the hands. While holding their hands either near to or far from a visual display, our subjects performed two tasks that drew on semantic processing: evaluation of the sensibleness of sentences, and the Stroop color-word interference task. We found evidence for impoverished semantic processing near the hands in both tasks. These results suggest a trade-off between spatial processing and semantic processing for the visual space around the hands. Readers are encouraged to be aware of this trade-off when choosing how to read a text, since both kinds of processing can be beneficial for reading.

Reaching Out With the Imagination

It has been said that the imagination is a powerful tool. We show here that, in reality, this claim may be more than simply a metaphor. Recent studies have revealed that items near the hands benefit from enhanced visual analysis (Abrams, Davoli, Du, Knapp, & Pauli, 2008; Reed, Grubb, & Steele, 2006; Schendel & Robertson, 2004). These results are thought to reflect the importance of representing objects and events that are in close proximity to the body, such as objects that are soon to be grasped or those that must be avoided. Quite naturally, all previous studies that have found perceptual enhancement near the hands have had subjects assume a posture in which their hands were placed close to a visual display. We show here for the first time that the same benefits can occur when one simply imagines such postures.

The Real Effect of Warm-Cool Colors

Abstract The phenomenon of warmer colors appearing nearer in depth toviewers than cooler colors has been studied extensively by psy-chologists and other vision researchers. The vast majority of thesestudies have asked human observers to view physically equidistant,colored stimuli and compare them for relative depth. However, inmost cases, the stimuli presented were rather simple: straight col-ored lines, uniform color patches, point light sources, or symmet-rical objects with uniform shading. Additionally, the colors usedwere typically highly saturated. Although such stimuli are use-ful in isolating and studying depth cues in certain contexts, theyleave open the question of whether the human visual system oper-atessimilarlyforrealisticobjects. Thispaperpresentstheresultsofan experiment designed to explore the color-depth relationship forrealistic, colored objects with varying shading and contours.CR Categories: I.4.8 [Image Processing and Computer Vision]:Scene Analysis—Depth CuesKeywords: depth perception, depth cues, warm-cool colors

Competitive Interaction Leads to Perceptual Distancing Between Actors

People physically distance themselves from competitors and the disliked, and cooperate less with those who are further away. We examine whether social interaction can also impact the space people perceive between themselves and others by measuring the influence of competitive dynamics on visual perception. In 2 experiments, participants played a ball toss game until they reached a target score. In Experiment 1, a confederate stood across the room from the participant and either (a) played the same game competitively, (b) played the same game cooperatively, or (c) observed the participant without playing, while in Experiment 2, 2 participants played the same versions of the game with each other. After the game, participants provided an estimate of the distance between themselves and the other player. Participants in Experiment 1 who competed with the confederate consistently judged her to be more distant than participants who cooperated with the confederate or played alone. In Experiment 2, players who lost the competition perceived more distance between themselves and their opponents than did players who won, suggesting that the experience of losing a competition drives this perceptual distancing. These findings demonstrate the power of a socially distancing interaction to create perceptual distance between people.

The Effect of Object Color on Depth Ordering

The relationship between color and perceived depth for realistic, colored objects with varying shading was explored. Background: Studies have shown that warm-colored stimuli tend to appear nearer in depth than cool-colored stimuli. The majority of these studies asked human observers to view physically equidistant, colored stimuli and compare them for relative depth. However, in most cases, the stimuli presented were rather simple: straight colored lines, uniform color patches, point light sources, or symmetrical objects with uniform shading. Additionally, the colors were typically highly saturated. Although such stimuli are useful for isolating and studying depth cues in certain contexts, they leave open the question of whether the human visual system operates similarly for realistic objects. Method: Participants were presented with all possible pairs from a set of differently colored objects and were asked to select the object in each pair that appears closest to them. The objects were presented on a standard computer screen, against 4 different uniform backgrounds of varying intensity. Results: Our results show that the relative strength of color as a depth cue increases when the colored stimuli are presented against darker backgrounds and decreases when presented against lighter backgrounds. Conclusion: Color does impact our depth perception even though it is a relatively weak indicator and is not necessarily the overriding depth cue for complex, realistic objects. Application: Our observations can be used to Type of Report: Other Department of Computer Science & Engineering Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1045 St. Louis, MO 63130 ph: (314) 935-6160

The effect of warm and cool object colors on depth ordering

Colors that appear closer to the red end of the visible spectrum are said to be warm while the colors that appear closer to the blue end are said to be cool. The phenomenon of warmer colors appearing nearer in depth to viewers than cooler colors has been studied extensively by psychologists and other vision researchers (see [Sundet 1978] for a summary). The vast majority of these studies have asked human observers to view physically equidistant, colored stimuli and compare them for relative depth. However, in most cases, the stimuli presented were rather simple: straight colored lines, uniform color patches, point light sources, or symmetrical objects with uniform shading. Additionally, the colors used were typically highly saturated. Although such stimuli are useful in isolating and studying depth cues in certain contexts, they leave open the question of whether the human visual system operates similarly for realistic objects. This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to explore the color-depth relationship for realistic, colored objects with varying shading and contours.